To What Extent Is Growing Through Integration with Other Businesses a Good Way for a Firm to Increase Its Competitiveness?

To what extent is growing through integration with other businesses a good way for a firm to increase its competitiveness? Growing through integration is concerned with mergers and takeovers of businesses. There are a number of different ways of integrating: Horizontal (same industry, same stage of production), backward vertical (same industry towards a supplier), forward vertical (same industry towards the customer) and Conglomerate (different industries). Growing through integration can have a positive effect on the competitiveness of a business in that firms are able to buy out or merge with other large powers in the market to make a ‘super power’ in the market. This ‘super power’ gains a larger % of the market as the two original market shares of the firms are joined together. A recent example of this is the merger between orange and T-mobile in 2010. This merger saw two of the UK’s biggest mobile phone network providers join together and as a result gain a combined 30 million customers and overtake O2 as the market leaders with 37% market share. Along with this, the merge allowed customers of the two companies to be able to receive the signal of both of the networks helping to provide a better signal range for the whole of its customer base. The integration of the two businesses therefore helps both orange and T-mobile to provide a better service to their customers which could tempt customers away from their closest rival O2 and gain them even more market share. Therefore the merger has allowed orange and T-mobile to compete with O2 on quality making them more non-price competitive and more desirable to the consumer. Along with being able to compete on areas other than price the merger could mean that orange and T-mobile are in fact able to compete on price as well. The two companies may be able to benefit from further economies of scale thus being able to drive their average unit cost of production down and charge less for their products. This again will go...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...appropriately in the film displaying her overall manipulative nature by drawing extensively on the original text, thus exploring Miller’s idea of the use of hysteria and rumour in order to seek personal vengeance. Hytner’s depiction of Salem is well represented and the use of space, both outdoor and indoor, helps to visually depict Miller’s idea of the blur between the public and private world. Furthermore, Miller’s use of symbolism within The Crucible is integral in reinforcing Salem’s governing theocracy and this is well demonstrated in the film adaptation. It is inevitable that there are some flawed elements of Hytner’s version of The Crucible, yet ultimately the film is successful in retaining and conveying Miller’s key concepts, in a way that is easy for the audience to understand.
In the film adaptation of, The Crucible, the characterisation of Abigail Williams is effective in conveying her manipulative and revengeful nature, as Miller intended in the original play. By adapting the original text to suit a different genre the use of cinematic techniques such as camera angles and Winona Ryder’s use of expression are effective in displaying the key elements of Abigail’s personality. In the play, the initial stage direction introducing Abigail describe her as, “seventeen...a strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling.” This refers directly to Abigail’s manipulative and dishonest nature and the idea that it is “endless”...

...﻿What makes a good life
Information about China
The People's Republic of China (PRC), it is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. China is the world's second-largest country by land area, the total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km2. China have very long history that it is one of the world's oldest civilizations. The Chinese history is a alternating periods of political unity and disunity. As the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, the ethnic mixed, became more and more strong.
Health
China has one of the longest recorded history of medicine records of any existing civilization. The methods and theories of traditional Chinese medicine have developed for over two thousand years. Western medical theory and practice came to China in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, notably through the efforts of missionaries[4] and the Rockefeller Foundation, which together founded Peking Union Medical College. Today Chinese traditional medicine continues alongside western medicine and traditional physicians who also receive some western medical training. Doctors use western medicine in most of big hospital, but in some part of treatment the traditional medicine is better. The World Health Organization (WHO) Constitution came into force on April 7, 1948, and China has been a Member since the beginning. by the rises in prices, there...

...﻿To whatextent was religion a major issue for the combatants of the Thirty Years War?
A series of wars in central Europe beginning in 1618 that stemmed from conflict between Protestants and Catholics and political struggles between the Holy Roman Empire and other powers. It ended with the Peace of Westphalia (1648).
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/thirty-years-war#ixzz38kVKtFWu
Thirty Years War (1618-48). The Thirty Years War had its roots in the dynastic and imperial ambitions of the house of Habsburg and its leadership in the Counter-Reformation. For the rest, the religious aspects should not be overstated because princes would readily trade religious conviction for political advantage; Catholic France in particular was eager to support Protestant states against the Habsburgs.
By the beginning of the 17th century there was parity between the faiths among the small principalities that made up Germany. Of the larger states, three of the electors of the Holy Roman Emperor were Protestant, another three Catholic, and the seventh and final one was the emperor himself, in his capacity as king of Bohemia. This apparently stable majority for Habsburg ambition was undermined by the fact that the majority of Bohemians were Protestant, and therein lay the spark of the Thirty Years War.
This came in 1617 when the Emperor Mathias placed his heir apparent Ferdinand on the throne of Bohemia to ensure his succession to the...

...﻿To whatextent was Austria responsible for the failure of the Italian revolutionaries in the years 1820-1849?
Austria played an integral part for the failure of Italian revolutionaries in between the years 1820-1849, due to their incredible influence throughout Europe at that time, being known as a superpower. Their military strength shone through, and crushed every revolution between 1820 and 1849. However, they are not the sole reason for failure. There are also other important factors that contributed to the failure of Italian revolutionaries, such as the lack of communication between leaders, and lack of foreign support.
Austria was responsible for the failure of the Italian revolutionaries due to two main reasons: their strict Chancellor Metternich, and the strength and efficiency of their army.
Austria was responsible for the failures of the Italian revolutionaries due to the influence of their chancellor, Metternich. The impact of Austria in Italy was felt before the first revolution in 1820. Due to the defeat of Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo, 1815, the Holy Alliance (containing Prussia, Russia and Austria) ensured that France’s power was severely limited. In order to do this, land from Italy was distributed to Austria, as a way of enticing Austria to protect Italy from French expansion. The lands of Lombardy and Venetia came under the influence of the Austrians, due to the...

...In whatways does Iago manipulate others in the early scenes? Does he even manipulate the audience?
Iago, is the machiavell of the play 'Othello', described as one of Shakespeare's most sinister characters. He is the real villain who in this story gets his revenge, using manipulation slowly climbing up the stairs of hierarchy to get to his general, who he hates. And the reason for that is not only not getting the position that he wanted but also his belief introduced by some rumour that Othello, the general, has slept with his wife, as he says in Act 2, scene 1 when he is on his own “For I do suspect the lusty moor hath leaped into my seat”. The fact that a rumour is enough for him to start planning out revenge emphasizes his easy to provoke, craving evil nature. Also the fact he carelessly calls his general “lusty” simply from suspicion just moments after he left highlights his machiavellian, duplicitous personality.
Now in order to get his revenge he wants to get the Moor to go mad, however it cannot look like he could in any way be responsible for the events happening, which is where the idea of manipulation comes in; Iago uses the other characters to subconsciously help him with his plan by picking out their weaknesses and giving them what seems to be a solution, however it is really just a step towards the revenge. The first time he does that is when he and Roderigo wake Brabantio...

...organisations that have the same interest as anyone. However there are groups that focus on a section of society e.g. Trade Unions are for teachers etc. They can also be classified as Interest Groups. These types of pressure groups display both democratic and undemocratic features which are both good and bad for the democratic process.
Pressure groups are very informative. They are good at educating people and raising awareness of the general public. They offer independent information to the public and they are very important in furthering our knowledge so we are able to make more sound, rather than rash decisions. However they may not be completely accurate but we gather enough information from different sources we can come to a judgement which reasonable or sensible. This is very good for democracy as they are informative and good at educating others such as Action on Smoking and Heath (ASH) keeps the general public aware about the dangers of smoking so they can think twice if they are ever influenced or motivated to smoke and to help others to quit smoking. This shows that are have a great interest of the public to support them and to keep them away from ignorance. This is very good because I believe they are more genuinely interested in public awareness and safety as they are not a political party but still involved within politics to help make decisions that affect us...

...(authoritative discipline) is required then submitting oneself to it is the only way we can get back on the path to happiness and the good life.
Society is like an organism. An organism is not one solid mass; it is the culmination of millions upon millions of cells. These cells are grouped into tissues, which are grouped into organs, which are, in turn, grouped into systems. Similarly, society is the culmination of many individuals, grouped into small collectives (families, friendship groups, small clubs and groups). These small collectives are grouped into small communities (towns, churches, education institutions), which are then grouped into large communities (countries, religions). These large communities form together to create societies. Just like an organism, society requires order to function. Discipline provides this order. Self-discipline should be the only discipline required; if every cell has self-discipline to work exactly as it’s meant to work, and every individual has the self- discipline to be a respectful, caring and healthy member of society then self-discipline would be all we’d need. But human nature – greed, envy, hatred – gets in the way of this, and so we require the support network of authoritative discipline to fall back on, to step in and provide order when we can’t create it ourselves.
Both Socrates and Aristotle agree that temperance is highly important to living the good life....

...With reference to organisations or industries that you know, to whatextent do you think that recent changes in the UK economy will have inevitably damaged the long-term profits of businesses that operate in this country? (40 marks)
The UK had recently emerged from the recession 2007-2009, the economy is now recovering. During the recession, many businesses had struggled to survive. The strategies that businesses had taken during recession may affect their long-term profits. For example, as people spend less during the recession, businesses try to reduce their costs and reduce prices in order to encourage customers to buy their product e.g. Primark, M&S etc and many businesses have also closed down branches in order to maintain their cash-flow. This may be necessary for some businesses in the short term but however in the long-term when there is an economic boom and demands are high, firms may find themselves with shortage of capacity.
One reason that the recent recession will have inevitably damaged the long-term profits of businesses that operate in this country is that because of the recession, consumer confidence falls and so people spend less therefore many businesses reduce their prices to attract more customers. For example, M&S had suffered during the recession, losing share in fashion and food to cheaper...